David Grubnic and the Optima Batteries team qualified in the No. 2 (3.765 seconds, 317.57 mph) slot for Sunday’s eliminations, missing his second-consecutive No. 1 spot by only 0.001 of a second. Grubnic defeated Brandon Bernstein in round one by running the quickest elapsed time of the round, 3.789 seconds, 317.72 mph to 3.827/311.34. In round two, Grubnic’s quick right foot helped him and his team get a slight holeshot win over Clay Millican, 3.848/311.49 to 3.840/310.05. The margin of victory for the Optima Batteries dragster was only approximately 17 inches.

In the semifinals, Grubnic faced first-time semifinalist T.J. Zizzo. Once the Tree went green, Grubnic was out of the gate first and never trailed as Zizzo had traction problems, 3.847 at 310.55 mph to 4.611/167.74. Grubnic’s win over Zizzo sent him to the 17th final round of his career and first money round of the season.

In the final, it was Grubnic this time who suffered traction problems in the Optima Batteries entry before 300 ft., and Lucas was able to pull away for the event win.

“Our Optima Batteries car was one of the best cars on the property in Seattle, and we’re extremely happy about that even though we didn’t get the win,” Grubnic, a 50-year old Australian who now is a resident of Bozeman, Mont., said. “Sure we’re disappointed we didn’t go home with the trophy, but Connie (Kalitta, team owner and crew chief) and the entire Optima Batteries team did an awesome job all weekend so we’re not hanging our heads. We made up some valuable points and that’s great.”

The O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals marked Tony Zizzo’s first-ever NHRA semi-finals appearance. After qualifying 14th on the strength of a 3.861-second ET Saturday, Zizzo drew fellow Chicago native and second-generation racer Tony Schumacher. Zizzo earned the upset of the weekend by beating Sarge with a 3.843-second run to Schumacher’s 3.902.

But Zizzo wasn’t through yet, drawing Schumacher’s teammate and defending class champion, Antron Brown. The PEAK team was able to cross the line first against Brown, who smoked the tires late in the run and, for the first time in the history of Zizzo Racing, they were headed to a semi-final round in the NHRA Mello Yello Series.

“We ran a great first round against Schumacher, it was a great heads-up race,” Zizzo said. “Antron had a good car in a good lane and our team made the right decisions.”

It was against third-round opponent David Grubnic that Zizzo’s rail was finally defeated.